My SCOBY is healthy!

How do I know? Because it keeps making babies. The workhorse SCOBY nestles down in the bosom of the rich brown tea, turning it into kombucha, while a new SCOBY forms on the surface of the batch.

When my first SCOBY made a baby in its brewing jar, I made two jars of kombucha for my second batch. Now I’m increasing my batch size.

From my reading, I learned that one shouldn’t increase the size of the batch too rapidly. The amount of liquid needs to be matched to the strength of the SCOBY.

My first batch was 1 quart. My next batch, because I had two SCOBYs, was two 1-quart jars. Now I’m tackling two 2-quart jars. (I put one workhorse SCOBY and one baby SCOBY in each jar, because four jars with one SCOBY each just seemed too complicated.)

I plan to do another two 2-quart jars next, and then…more!

I’d hoped to try a full gallon, figuring that the jars currently holding 2 quarts each would easily hold double that. But when I poured 2 quarts into each, I saw that I was wrong. Because the jars need to breathe—there’s no lid to prevent spills when I carry the jar from its brewing spot to the kitchen counter for bottling—I can’t fill the vessel to its brim.

So I’ll do two 3-quart batches when I’m ready to increase.

As the volume of liquid increases, the amount of the other ingredients must increase also. I’ll set out the measurements here, in case you are accompanying me with your own kombucha adventure. 😀

Kombucha—1 quart

2 tea bags
1/4 cup evaporated cane juice
3 cups filtered water
1/2 cup kombucha from previous batch

Kombucha—2 quarts

4 tea bags
1/2 cup evaporated cane juice
7 cups filtered water
1 cup kombucha from previous batch

Kombucha—3 quarts

6 tea bags
3/4 cup evaporated cane juice
10-1/2 cups filtered water
1-1/2 cups kombucha from previous batch

Kombucha—1 gallon

8 tea bags
1 cup evaporated cane juice
14 cups filtered water
2 cups kombucha from previous batch

I’m looking forward to the larger batches! The first 1-quart batch disappeared almost instantaneously, especially since I had to reserve 1/2 cup for the next batch. I can see that the second batch isn’t going to last very long either. I may have to see about finding larger vessels, so that I can go for that full gallon!

For the full process of brewing kombucha, see:
Make Your Own SCOBY